Application of professional knowledge and skills in the workplace
Self-reflection is defined as a process of careful evaluation of one’s own thoughts, beliefs, and behaviour (Brown, Dillard & Hopper, 2015). In terms of the studying subjects like financial accounting, it would help me in assessing my already existing skills and the scope for improvement in the same. I believe reflection based writing is an important exercise, because it will let me develop the new skills and review the effectiveness of the same. Thus, the three chief benefits of reflection can be listed as follows.
- Strengthening Emotional Intelligence
- Acting With Integrity
- Being More Confident
The profession of accountancy is all pervasive and ever changing. The profession has become a major subject of scrutiny in these days, because of the involvement of the range of stakeholders and resources globally (Schön, 2017). In addition, scrutiny has been placed on the behaviour of the accounting firms, the usefulness of the accounting information produced and the overall professional development.
This report is the reflection about the learnings I have gained during the financial accounting course and the effect of the same on my emotional wellness and personality. The report would cover the SWOT matrix in terms of the learning of the course.
The course has enabled me to understand the basics of the accounting. With the help of the knowledge gained, I can say that manual accounting process refers to the set of the processes used to keep the record by hand instead of using the computer-automated systems for the same. According to me, there are a number of factors, which contribute towards the effectiveness of the manual processed accounting records and the overall management of the entities. These factors are explained as follows.
The first factor that is crucial for the efficient preparation of the manual accounting processed records is the coordination and the communication between the team members of an enterprise. This is useful not just to carry the routine tasks, but also to the tasks that are incident to the accounting department such as drafting of the emails, letters, and preparation of reports, interpretations, and communications internally and externally. I feel, the interpersonal skills such as the perusal skills, decision-making, management review and the overall coordination with the various departments are other key factors for the smooth flow of information and the operations of finance of an enterprise. In addition, the management of the teams is essential. The leaders of the accounting department must communicate the vision and the goals to the team members and in return must incorporate the feedbacks received from them in the policies.
Career pathways
According to me, the manual accounting systems are most suitable and must be commonly used by the small sized business, where the number of transactions to be entered is lesser . Further, manual systems yield better control and authority when the owner intends not to delegate the operations and responsibility among many individuals (Simkin, Norman & Rose, 2014). Another chief benefit of the manual accounting system is that the errors can be readily identified and corrected because of the double entry system. The double entry system as developed by Luca Pacioli involves a credit entry for the every debit entry made, and thus facilitates the reconciliation of the accounts (Lee, Bishop & Parker, 2014). While the computerised data suffer the vulnerabilities of digital data spoofing, cyber security threats, loss of the backup, delegation of the authorities and misuse of the same, the manual records are easy to access and maintain (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2017).
However, the manual accounting processes suffers certain disadvantages as well. According to me, the significant factor that makes the manual accounts complex is the necessity of possessing the required expertise to manage the same (Arcega et. al, 2015). While in modern computerised entry system, the software are such advanced that the errors are detected the moment an entry is passed, the same is not possible in the manual accounting system. In addition, I find making the manual entries is a tedious and a consuming task as compared to doing the same through the aid of computers, where there relevant credit or debit is automatically posted. In addition, I feel that the computerised system has an edge in terms of accuracy of the calculation and the computations.
The course has exposed me to the world of the numbers and the finance, and certainly, I have developed a likeness for calculations, which was earlier absent. The course has inclined me so much to the world of accountancy that I intend to pursue the Chartered Accountant course from hereon. The CA course would take my understanding of the concepts and procedures of the accountancy and the related subjects like auditing, taxation, law and more, to another level. I feel an overall understanding of the world of finance and accountancy can only be gained by the knowledge of the related laws and legislations, and the knowledge about the taxation regimes of a particular region. I am more inclined towards the CA course than the CPA course, because the subjects and the time duration involved in CA would give me a more comprehensive structured learning. I understand that while a CA enjoys the membership of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand (Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand, 2018), a CPA enjoys the membership of CPA Australia, which is one of the world’s largest accounting body (CPA Australia, 2018). Personally I feel once an individual is exposed wider scope of knowledge like that in CA course, it is easy to study the comparatively less complex course, i.e. CPA.
Conclusion
On lines of the above, my immediate plans are to pursue CA course from Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand .Though the course structure is complex and covers a range of subjects from taxation laws of Australia, to corporate laws, to financial management and more, it would be interesting to gain practical and theoretical knowledge of the same. The course would open for me a range of the job opportunities and the business opportunities as well.
As mentioned above, the financial accounting course has provided me with the enough knowledge and understanding of the major subjects of accountancy and financial management that I can easily apply for a financial planning adviser or an accountant’s job in an entity, if not pursuing CA or CPA. Not only this, I can also opt for the share trading and the side income lines as such. Once, the basics of the accounting an finance are clear, I feel one can start any personal business of his or her, and manage the same effectively.
One significant option that is available to me other than that of a CA or CPA is that of Company Secretaries, the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators, in Australia, governs the same. The course of Company Secretaries opens up the professional roles of governance advisers, risk managers, compliance managers and more. The course also involves a combination of the practical exposure and the theoretical learning and thus is a good option. There exist a number of opportunities in the corporate sectors for the persons having a background knowledge of the accounting, finance, and laws.
|
Internal Factors |
|
|
Strengths |
Weaknesses |
|
· Fluency in English · Good at theoritical subjects · Good memory power makes it easy for me to memorie the theoritical subjects consistenly. · I am good at learnig thing practically an dthat would aid me during the internship period od the said course. · I have a good set of communication and pursuation skills, I feel these are most important while working with a number of individuals from different educational backgrounds and cultures. · Love to work under stress. |
· Not much interested in the numerical, which makes it difficult for me to understand the numerical subjects. · Personality wise, high temperament can certainly back fire in stressful situations. · At times, the pursuance for perfection in the work makes the pace of my working slow. |
|
External Factors |
|
|
Opportunities |
Threats |
|
· Good communication skills give me an ability to manage different individuals in a team and thus, I can be a good administrator. · I can flip to Company Secretary Course or can go for MBA degree, if the CA course does not works. |
· The profession of the finance and accountancy is ever evolving and ever changing. · High level of competition |
Apart from studying the CA course, I can also opt for learning and pursuing the course governing the laws and regulations. As I mentioned earlier, I am good at theoretical subjects, so I can easily manage the legal studies side by side. An exposure to legal studies would any day an add on to the finance and the accounting background.
In the event of the given situation, firstly I will speak to the manager himself about the incorrect treatment that he has made. I will communicate with him the further possible consequences on making the insufficient compliance in light of the laws and regulations. It is the duty of the practitioner to present the true and fair view of the transactions taken place in the entity, If he fails to dos do, he may even lose his widely credible professional degree. No matter, the entity would incur the loss of $500,000, on this type of expenditure as per the requirements of AASB 138 Intangible Assets. However, this is necessary to disclose the same. We will disclose the information in the light of the requirements of the accounting standards along with the necessary disclosures wherever necessary.
Conclusion
From the discussion held in the previous parts it could be concluded that seeing the wide possibilities and the scrutiny by which the accountants of the twenty first century are covered, it is important to reflect on the ones capabilities and the limitations. The reflection not only aids in the review of the existing capabilities but also aid the accountant to incorporate the changes and the developments in the field of the accounting and the compliance procedures. Further to add, it is the responsibility of the practitioners to update their knowledge and skills to serve the organisations and the stakeholders on the best manner possible.
References
Arcega, C. K., Datinguinoo, E., Guerra, J., Guno, C., Mayuga, H. J., Villamena, E., & Manongsong, J. L. (2015). Computerized vs. Non-computerized Accounting System of Small and Medium Enterprises in Lipa City, Philipines: A Comparative Analysis. Asia Pacific Journal of Academic Research in Business Administration, 1(1).
Brown, J., Dillard, J., & Hopper, T. (2015). Accounting, accountants and accountability regimes in pluralistic societies: taking multiple perspectives seriously. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 28(5), 626-650.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. (2018). Become a Chartered Accountant. Retrieved from: https://www.charteredaccountantsanz.com/become-a-member/memberships/chartered-accountant
CPA Australia. (2018). Become a CPA, apply today. Be heard tomorrow. Retrieved from: https://www.cpaaustralia.com.au/
Lee, T. A., Bishop, A., & Parker, R. H. (2014). Accounting history from the Renaissance to the present: A remembrance of Luca Pacioli. Oxon: Routledge.
Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2017). Contemporary environmental accounting: issues, concepts and practice. Oxon: Routledge.
Schön, D. A. (2017). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Oxon: Routledge.
Simkin, M. G., Norman, C. S., & Rose, J. M. (2014). Core concepts of accounting information systems. UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
